Dissemination of wine-related yeasts by migratory birds.

The present work was undertaken to evaluate the con-tribution of migratory birds in the environmental dis-semination of yeasts. Four sites (Mazara del Vallo,Lampedusa, Ustica and Linosa), representing themain stop-over points in Sicily, were analysed duringspring and autumnal bird migration and 349 birds(belonging to 10 families) were ringed and analysedfor yeast presence. A total of 125 yeasts were isolated and identified by a multiple genotypic approach, con-sisting of restriction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP) of 5.8S rRNA gene and 26S rRNA andsequencing of D1/D2 domain of the 26S rRNA gene,which resulted in the recognition of 18 species,including the technological relevantSaccharomycescerevisiaewhich were characterized at strain levelapplying three techniques (interdelta analysis, mini-satellite analysis based on the separate amplificationof three genes and microsatellite multiplex PCR ofpolymorphic microsatellite loci). The evaluation of thepersistence of livingS. cerevisiae in birds for about12 h from ingestion of inoculated feed allowed theconclusion that yeasts with technological potentialare disseminated during migration.